Osnap perpendicular from previous command is ridiculous

[mjohnson3MF66]

A perpendicular snap is perfectly fine, IF it has to do with the current object I am drawing.

Say, if I'm in the middle of drawing a line and a common snap point for lines would be perpendicular to another object, GREAT.

BUT, now say I draw a circle at one point, finish the command, then invoke a new circle command, and try to draw a circle somewhere else. When I do that, and the new circle keeps trying to snap to a point perpendicular from the center of the FIRST circle, this is NOT OK!

How do I keep my perpendicular snap turned on, but keep it from snapping to ridiculous perpendicular points from irrelevant previous commands?

[pendean]

@AllenJessup those sweet commands are not available in plain AutoCAD2020 😞

[pendean]

Weird indeed.

Check your CUI setting for SHIFT+P under Keyboard Shortcuts section, make sure it is set to PERP.

[AllenJessup]

Thanks Dean. Brain slow this morning.

[sarchwba]

For what it's worth I have the same issue and it drives me crazy.  I'm responding because it's frustrating to see all the people saying they can't recreate the issue or we should do things differently.  To think that some users find this useful makes me wonder what on earth they're drafting is like.  How often do you really need to use the last point from the previous command instead of just not ending the command? 

It's not even consistent, if you draw a circle, then a line, then do a move command the perpendicular snap will randomly show up and it's not always perpendicular with the last point of the line you drew.  It just seems like something that could easily be cleared after every command, especially when you can just object snap track from your previous point if you want to accomplish the same exact thing but with consistency.

[RobDraw]

I'm surprised that you haven't been able to control your object snaps even after reading this thread. There are so many ways to take control of your snaps. Pick one, just one, and you will be a happier drafter.

You shouldn't be so bold as to criticize other peoples drafting based on the fact that they are not being driven crazy by something as innocuous as a running object snap getting in the way.

Learn to control your drawing environment instead of letting it control you. You have the power, now use it.

[sarchwba]

That's not the point and I'm not criticizing the way other people draft.  I'm criticizing Autodesk for not making this "last point osnap" optional or consistent.

And please stop saying "learn to control your snaps" like it's some kind of mystery to us.  I never said it was impossible to draft with this. 

[RobDraw]

My point is it very simple to not use it if you don't find it useful. Just because you can't understand how it can be useful doesn't it isn't for other people or maybe even a necessary part of other functions. No one is forcing you to use it.

[sarchwba]

Obviously I find part of it useful and clearly there is no solution that makes it more suitable for me, I'm fine with that.  My main reason for responding is your insistence that I shouldn't have a problem with it.  Saying, "If you don't like it don't use it" shows that you don't have a real solution to offer and you won't even recognize the problem so why do you bother responding?

Snaps were frustrating me when I was working with xrefs that had objects on different elevations and that problem had a direct solution, OSNAPZ.  The fact that my current problem doesn't have a direct solution doesn't mean I'm using snaps wrong like you keep suggesting or that I just shouldn't use it because it doesn't work exactly how I'd like it to.

If things were the other way around and someone was requesting a way to have the perpendicular snap active at the beginning of a command based on the last point of the previous command I would think it's an odd request but I wouldn't tell them they're wrong for requesting it.  Autocad has hundreds of settings that are based entirely on personal preference and thousands of Autolisp commands to make it work the way users want it to.

So you can tell people that you don't think there is a direct solution to their problem but responding to everyone in this thread that they're wrong for not liking a particular function of a particular snap mode is just wasting everyone's time.

[RobDraw]

Look, don't make assumptions about some unsaid opinions. I never said anyone was wrong. My point all along has been that there are so many ways to control OSnaps that this "problem" doesn't have to be an issue. When a tool that I like to use doesn't work as desired in certain situations, I grab one that will. I also realize that just because I think that tool that I like "should" work in that situation I realize there is probably a good reason for it not working. I can accept that especially when I learn why it does what it does. Once I know why, I can apply that knowledge and anticipate needing a different tool that does get the job done when that situation arises again.

You need to realize that sometimes there is a bigger picture that negates any perceived logic by the user.

Good luck!

[daniel5Q25W]

Did you ever figure this out?!  This too has been driving me nuts for years, actually.

I want to have perpendicular as a running snap when it makes sense.  But it often will show a perpendicular snap icon to something before I even pick my first point. So how can it be perpendicular to anything if I haven't picked a reference point anywhere in infinite space?!!!! 

There should be a way to prioritize a running snap over other running snaps.

[pendean]

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@daniel5Q25W wrote:

...But it often will show a perpendicular snap icon to something before I even pick my first point...

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I am not able to reproduce that at all here in AutoCAD 2025 nor 2026, unless you mean you are hovering over objects at that moment in which case that is by design, PERP is not a "must pick something first" type of osnap, never has been. Same with many others. F3 toggle is best used for when-you-need-it type situations.